Manufacturers vouch for cheese

ITALIAN cheese makers are trying to assure customers their prized mozzarella is safe to eat after high levels of dioxin were found in some samples of the buffalo milk used to make it.

The manufacturers took out full-page adverts in Italian newspapers yesterday, outlining the controls for the top-branded mozzarella in an attempt to calm fears that everything from pizza to caprese salads might be contaminated. The tainted products came from a few buffalo milk farms in the southern Campania region.

Prosecutors in Naples have placed 109 people under investigation in connection with the probe, on suspicion of fraud and food poisoning.